The Conqueror, Kain
Returning to the Cabal's sanctuary with Janos in tow, Kain sought Vorador's counsel. Vorador was shocked to see Janos Audron, his once-killed sire, returned to life. Though he questioned this, there was no time to explain. Janos only briefly explained their enemy's destructive plans and his own plan to defeat them at the source of their vengeful efforts: The Hylden City. Though he tried to teleport the Cabal into the City for this purpose, he found that he could not do so. A great magical barrier surrounded the city in a dome, preventing such unnatural intrusion. Umah, however, remarked that ships came and went from Meridian's docks at many strange hours, seemingly headed across the great southern sea to the little-explored hinterlands beyond. Deducing that the Hylden City must be located there, Vorador instructed her and Kain to stow away upon a departing ship, infiltrate the city, and deactivate the barrier so that the Cabal could launch a final assault. Traveling together to the Meridian docks, the two spoke of the ongoing mission. Umah warned Kain that the Sarafan Lord was a formidable opponent but Kain balked at the notion, retaliating that he was the rightful lord to Nosgoth and no Sarafan pretender would stop him from claiming this place in history. Umah, troubled by Kain's ambition and fearful of the Cabal's fate under Kain's rule, soon deceived him and stole the Nexus Stone, intent on killing the Sarafan Lord herself. Kain gave chase, eventually finding her again surrounded by Sarafan knights. As the knights departed, unaware of Kain's watchful eye, a severely injured Umah begged for healing blood. Kain interrogated his dying companion about the future of Nosgoth, extracting a desperate agreement that he was indeed its rightful ruler. Satisfied with this, Kain dealt a finishing blow and ended her existence, taking her life in exchange for her betrayal. With the Nexus Stone recovered, Kain at last deactivated the shield around the City, allowing Vorador and Janos to materialize within its walls. Once alerted of Umah's demise, Vorador grew angry. Kain accused him of having persuaded Umah to steal the stone. Janos silenced the both of him, focusing them for now upon the matter at hand. Kain was to locate the hub of power in the city and alert the others, who would teleport to his side to deal the decisive blows and bring the Hylden to their knees. Moving alone throughout the city, Kain discovered many bizarre devices and mechanisms before stumbling upon his goal: The Hylden Gate. The root of the invasion, the Hylden Gate had been constructed by a possessed Janos Audron to allow Hylden souls to escape the demon dimension. Inhabiting cloned bodies, the Hylden were effectively returned to Nosgoth. But while this enabled them to roam free in the land, they were still bound to the other realm. The gate acted as an umbilical cord, a conduit to that world. As long as enemies existed who might seek to halt that connection, the Hylden were not truly free. To this end, they disguised themselves as saviors of Nosgoth, a new Sarafan Order, and ushered in an industrial age. The key to this industrial age was the glyph energy which they used to power their technology. But the their true motives were far more sinister than simply providing energy to Nosgoth's new technology: The Hylden, disguised as the mute Glyphwrights, had installed a network throughout all of Meridian. The glyph energy traveled through this network, powering every device and mechanism. Under the pretense of powering all of Nosgoth, they planned to install similar networks installed throughout the land - and once everything was in place, their weapon would have channeled the energy of the Mass through the glyph energy network, across the entirety of Nosgoth, eradicating every non-Hylden lifeform in the world. Though Kain had poisoned the Mass to thwart this scheme, the Gate could still be protected. As Kain approached the Hylden Gate, the Sarafan Lord Hash'Ak'Gik arrived to fight him, killing Vorador in the process. After a heated battle, Kain threw his enemy into the Hylden Gate, only to see him materialize back upon the safety of the walkway. Amused, Hash'Ak'Gik delighted in Kain's predicament: The Hylden would always return as long as the Gate was open. While Kain wore the Nexus Stone, he could not be bested by the Soul Reaver. But if he used the Stone to close the Hylden Gate, he would open himself to an immediate killing blow. It was a stalemate, and time favored the Hylden. Kain, however, reasoned that by leaving himself vulnerable, he would at least be taking the Hylden out with him. And so he tore the Nexus Stone free from his armor and threw it into the swirling, crackling vortex of the Hylden Gate. As the Gate shuddered and imploded upon itself, the Hash'Ak'Gik's raised the Soul Reaver to end Kain. At that moment, however, Janos intervened and knocked the Reaver away, shortly before being overpowered and cast into the collapsing Hylden Gate himself, to be trapped for an eternity with the Hylden he had imprisoned there so long ago. But this distraction provided Kain an opportunity, and he reclaimed the Soul Reaver for his own. Striking down his opponent, he claimed victory,. As he died, as the souls of his escaped brethren were forcibly drawn back into the demon dimension, Hash'Ak'Gik assured Kain that the war was not over yet: The demon dimension granted his race immortality, an eternity in which to take vengeance. Scoffing at his fallen enemy's final words, Kain departed as the area was torn apart with the Hylden Gate's violent destruction. The Sarafan Lord was dead. Vorador and Janos Audron were both dead for a second time. But the only death Kain truly mourned was Umah, the traitor who could have served at his side, a vampiric consort to a dark god. But Kain's regret did not last long for his mind was soon focused upon the forward path. With his demise, the Sarafan Lord had left his throne vacant. Kain would seat himself upon this throne. Kain would be Nosgoth's king. Category:The Age of Conquest